“In addition to elections that have led to a four-fold increase in women
elected to parliament, Bahrain has also asked John Timoney, the former New
York police chief, and John Yates, the former assistant commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, to overhaul policing, Sir Daniel Bethlehem, the Foreign
Officer’s former principal legal adviser, to review judicial processes, and
opened detention facilities for inspection by the Red Crescent.
“Those who want Bahrain to continue on the path of genuine reform will do
the cause no service by cancelling the Grand Prix this year.
“Indeed, surely the presence of thousands of Western visitors and
journalists in the run-up to and during the event will act as an additional
incentive to the authorities in Bahrain to show the international community
its sincerity in the cause of reform and that their support for Bahrain is
well placed?”
The goal of the UK-Bahrain All-Party Parliamentary Group is to “develop
friendship and understanding between our countries and to promote mutual
economic and political aims”.
There is also an All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Bahrain,
chaired by Andy Slaughter (Lab), which has the goal of promoting “human
rights, democracy and the rule of law in Bahrain”.